Today, I’m hosting a new author for me. Meet Heather Day Gilbert, author of the Barks & Beans Cozy Mystery Series.
As part of the tour, I’ve got an exclusive
interview with author Heather Day Gilbert. There’s also a limited-time giveaway.
Shade Grown by Heather Day Gilbert
Book 8 in The Barks &
Beans Café Cozy Mystery Series
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: WoodHaven Press
Publication Date: 11 December,
2023
Paperback: 190 pages
ISBN-13:
979-8987556955
Digital ASIN: B0BPQ8KHZR
Shade Grown Book Synopsis
Welcome to the Barks &
Beans Café, a quaint place where folks pet shelter dogs while enjoying a cup of
java...and where murder sometimes pays a visit.
During Lewisburg's popular
summer home and garden tour, Macy and her brother Bo discover new aspects of
their hometown's history. One of the last homes they visit features a lush
commemorative shade garden marking where a Civil War soldier's bones were buried.
As Macy pauses to admire a
bed of blue hostas, she glimpses a shadowy shape lying beneath the dinner-plate
leaves. It turns out to be the body of famed movie star Cody Franklin, who'd
purchased the garden house as a quiet country retreat.
Back at the café, Macy
speaks with Cody's distraught sister, who lets slip that she's afraid her
brother's killer will target her next. Macy's heart goes out to the bereaved
sibling, and she agrees to speak with Cody's local acquaintances in hopes
she'll uncover some helpful backstory.
But someone powerful is
lurking behind the scenes, and Macy has to zoom in on the killer before
everything fades to black.
Join siblings Macy and Bo
Hatfield as they sniff out crimes in their hometown...with plenty of dogs along
for the ride! The Barks & Beans Café cozy mystery series features a
small town, an amateur sleuth, and no swearing or graphic scenes.
Interview with author Heather Day Gilbert
Q: What
inspired you to start the Barks and Beans Café series?
Heather
Day Gilbert: I knew I wanted to write a coffee shop mystery
series set in a West Virginia town, with brother/sister sleuths, because I love
portraying good sibling relationships.
I'd also heard a lot about
cat cafes, but I wondered what a dog café would be like, where people could
pet/adopt shelter dogs, and the Barks & Beans Café was born!
Q: What's
your favorite thing about writing the Barks and Beans Café series?
Heather
Day Gilbert: The characters in this series are very real to
me, and I also enjoy working in all kinds of shelter dogs into the café storylines.
I have so many readers who
love my sleuth's Great Dane, Coal, but they also comment on the strong
characters who tend to recur in the books.
Every time I start writing
a new book, it's like stepping back into a place I'm really familiar with and
hanging out with friends. Plus, I get to plot twisty mysteries, which is tons
of fun. ;)
Q: When
you start writing a new cozy mystery book (in a series), what's the first thing
you start with? What's the writing process like for you?
Heather
Day Gilbert: I start with a long synopsis that outlines the
new and old characters, the critical events leading up to the murder (or
murders), and the resolution.
I often have a real WV
locale that's a hingepin of the setting and that lines up with the title pun (IE:
the WV State Fair in FAIR TRADE, or the caverns in COLD DRIP).
I often build my plot/death/setting
around the predetermined title, although my upcoming release title KNIGHT
BREW was brainstormed (with the generous help of my readers!) around the
setting of a Ren Faire.
Q: If
your Barks & Beans Café books were to be turned into a series (or
movies), who would you want to play Macy and Bo?
Heather
Day Gilbert: Great question! For Bo, I've always pictured a
muscled redhead like Max Martini, and for Macy, I've always pictured a
strawberry blonde like Bryce Dallas Howard.
But if this series were
turned into a TV series or movies, I'd just be happy if they managed to find
redheads to play the leading roles, since I'm married to a redhead and I think
they're fascinating. ;)
Q: You
write mystery series across multiple genres (Christian romance, historical
mysteries, cozies), can you write more than one mystery book at the same time
or do you have to finish one mystery then turn to the other?
Heather
Day Gilbert: I tend to be a linear thinker, so I generally
only work on one book at a time until completion. I like to be fully invested
in that world as I write, especially since I tend to write in first person POV.
Q: In
your bio, you mention being an Agatha Christie fan (who isn't?). What is your
favorite book by Christie?
Heather
Day Gilbert: I love the Tommy/Tuppence books because they
portray a healthy marriage (and I just reread BY THE PRICKING OF MY THUMBS,
which inspired one of my Barks/Beans mysteries—I won't tell you which, though.
;) Some of my faves are ORDEAL BY INNOCENCE, NEMESIS, and CROOKED
HOUSE.
Q: If you could experiment with any writing genre, one you
haven’t written in, what would it be?
Heather Day Gilbert: I'm actually working
on writing a book in that genre right now—a domestic psychological thriller.
I've always wanted to write something along the lines of the non-graphic
Hitchcock films, like REAR WINDOW. Here's hoping I succeed in pulling it off!
Limited-time GIVEAWAY
As part of the blog tour, there's a giveaway for a $10 Starbucks gift card and a softcopy of Shade Grown by Heather Day Gilbert. Use the Rafflecopter link or widget below.
a Rafflecopter giveawayThe Barks & Beans Café series
in order:
Book 1: No Filter
Book 2: Iced Over
Book 3: Fair Trade
Book 4: Spilled Milk
Book 5: Trouble Brewing
Book 6: Cold Drip
Book 7: Roast Date
Book 8: Shade Grown
Standalone Novella: House Blend
About the author:
She enjoys writing
contemporary mysteries with unpredictable twists, much like the Agatha Christie
books she read growing up.
Her novels feature small
towns, family relationships, and women who aren't afraid to protect those they
love. Find out more at heatherdaygilbert.com.
Connect with author Heather
Day Gilbert via her Website, Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, Goodreads,
and BookBub.
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